5 Tennis Legends Who Never Won Roland Garros
The French Open is the only major grand slam in Tennis to be played on the clay court. Those who follow the sport of tennis and know about its history will agree to the fact that clay court is probably one of the most trickiest courts in the sport of tennis, for it has seen many greats go down fighting on it while achieving heights of glory on other courts.
French Open is a tennis grand slam played every year from the last week of May to the second week of June in Paris, France. It hosts both male and female championships, along with doubles (men, women & mixed). This year, the Roland Garros (the other name for French Open) has already begun and the excitement is reaching new levels.
At this point of time, we felt that it’s probably apt that we go down memory lane and look at 5 of the tennis legends that failed to seize the French Cup and were therefore deprived of a career all-slam.
#5 John McEnroe
There’s very little in the world of tennis that John McEnroe hasn’t achieved and sadly, the French Cup is one of them. McEnroe is widely regarded as one of the finest to have ever set foot on the tennis court, be it his playing style, which included a terrific serve and volley, a sheer brilliant net game and of course, the temperament.
McEnroe came closest to the title against Evan Lendl in 1984 Finals, where he was 2 sets up and yet lost the final having been exhausted by the energy he devoted in the first 2 sets. Lendl breezed through the last 3 sets, making it McEnroe’s closest ever coming to lifting the French crown.
While it’s arguable whether his temperament was sporting, it is no doubt agreeable that his passion was visible through his antics. McEnroe has often regretted to have never won the cup to add to his illustrious grand slam tally of 7. We can only say to the legend that we still admire him and are delighted to have seen him play.
It just seems that the clay court isn’t very favourable to tennis greats.